Fans of Fox’s new ratings hit Empire will be delighted to know that a release date for the hotly-anticipated second season has been confirmed: we’ll see the show’s return on September 23, 2015.
The official date was confirmed in a Tweet posted today, asking fans to mark their calendars, with the witty hashtag #gametimebitches.
#Empire fans! @EmpireFOX Season 2 returns Wednesday, September 23, 2015! #MarkYourCalendars #GameTimeBitches pic.twitter.com/hEtN5TfLBV
— Empire Writers (@EmpireWriters) May 29, 2015
Empire stats Terrance Howard (Crash) and Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) as divorced former drug dealers. Henson, who stars as the loud-mouthed Cookie, is just newly-released from a 17-year prison sentence, and wants a piece of her ex-husband Lucious Lyon’s (Howard’s) massive music mogul pie, which he built during her time behind bars. But the story sees more major twists and turns beyond that: not only are now-grown kids involved, but Lyon is also engaged to be re-married. And, most troublesome of all, he has been diagnosed with ALS.
Related: Chris Rock, Lenny Kravitz, Alicia Keys appearing on season 2 of Empire
In March, Hulu picked up exclusive rights to stream the show, including the entire previous season on-demand, as well as every new episode of this and future seasons the day after it broadcasts of Fox.
The first season finale of Empire was a record-breaker, becoming the highest-rated first-year season finale since McDreamy and McSteamy graced the screens on Grey’s Anatomy. And viewership seemed to continue to pick up following the season one finale – Hulu had already been offering the full first season under its Hulu Plus subscription, which costs $8 per month.
Several guest stars have been confirmed for Season 2, including Chris Rock, Lenny Kravitz, and Alicia Keys. The first season’s final two-hour episode welcomed a steady stream of guest stars, including Snoop Dogg, Jennifer Hudson, Rita Ora, Juicy J, and Patti Labelle.